In English, people often use the phrase "It's not rocket science" or "It's not brain surgery" to describe easy concepts or easy tasks.
But conversely, this also means that rocket science and brain surgery, such a difficult and cutting-edge scientific field, are beyond the reach of people.
Aerospace engineers and neurosurgeons in rocket science and neurosurgeons in brain surgery are often seen as a very few, extremely intelligent people, and have become idols that are admired and respected.
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However, a recent study suggests that rocket engineers and brain surgeons are not necessarily smarter than the general public.
The researchers asked 329 aerospace engineers and 72 neurosurgeons to complete a series of tasks to test their cognitive function.
The results, published in the British Medical Journal, show that their performance is almost indistinguishable from that of the British public.
The researchers say the study was conducted in part to see which profession practitioners have an intellectual advantage, but also to explore whether the public's perception of these fields is based on reality.
With both industries expected to experience staff shortages for decades to come, the researchers believe that challenging stereotypes and stereotypes may benefit future careers in science.
The researchers used the 'Great British Intelligence Test', originally designed by Imperial College London, to assess the two groups of professionals online in six cognitive areas.
These include areas such as planning and reasoning, working memory, attention, and emotional processing. Test takers also answered questions about age, gender, and industry experience.
The researchers compared the test results of the two groups and then compared them to the results of the previously collected data on 18,000 British publics.
Strengths
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It turned out that neurosurgeons scored significantly higher than rocket scientists at solving semantic problems, such as defining rare words.
At the same time, aerospace engineers perform better at attention and mental manipulation tasks, such as rotating images of objects in their minds.
But when comparing their scores to those of the public, rocket scientists did not show any significant difference in all fields.
Neuroscientists, on the other hand, differ only in two ways: they solve problems faster; but their recalls are also slower.
The researchers say this may be related to "the fast-paced nature of neurosurgery ... Or it could be the result of training for quick decision-making in time-pressed situations, although this is unlikely. ”
The study concluded that "neurosurgeons and aerospace engineers are likely to be unnecessarily admired" and that "other professions may be worthy of respect, and future work should be devoted to identifying the professions that should be most revered."
Are rocket scientists and brain surgeons really smart? One of their main aims, the researchers say, is to draw conclusions about the problem permanently. At the same time, I would like to argue whether the public's perception of these two professions is realistic.
If you're considering whether to study brain surgery or rocket science, are you more encouraged by the findings? Perhaps, it may not be as easy as you think.